As bobsledders prepare for the start of World Cup season next month in Whistler, Canada, Team USA is pinning its hopes on new coach Brian Shimer to help shave off those invaluable milliseconds. And if Shimer is in the market for fun, team bonding activities, we’d like to put in a formal request to revisit the “Bob-Spread” calendar that made pinups of these adrenaline-chasing athletes. It is getting awfully close to 2023, after all.
“Brian’s background as the head coach and driving coach will provide him the experience to seamlessly step into the role,” USABS chief executive Aron McGuire said.
Realistically, Shimer isn’t looking for advice. Not only is this his second stint coaching the team, the former bobsledder also arrives with five Olympic Games under his belt. He won the bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002, and several more at other world competitions. But hey, why not dream big?
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While the team’s 2022 calendar was no doubt a great opportunity for the guys to connect on a whole new level, it also served a much more practical purpose.
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While some sports attract huge funding and lucrative endorsement deals, bobsledders have to be somewhat self-reliant. Plus, it’s an expensive sport. An Olympic-sized bobsled can run anywhere between $30K-100K, and we don’t imagine they’re very cheap to ship, either.
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To reach their Olympic ambitions at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, the men’s team needed to quickly raise $70,000, and what better way than by stripping down for a sexy calendar?
The calendar was a huge success, exceeding the goal to the tune of $95K and getting the team to the Games.
The gold-medal marketing move also made national news.
“We’d been talking about this for a long time,” U.S. bobsledder Carlo Valdes told NBC Sports. “It just never happened. Until now. [Bobsledder and photographer] Jimmy Reed made it happen and everybody bought in. And nobody will be disappointed.”
“We’re a very close team,” he told the Washington Post. “Shooting the calendar was a fun experience. It wasn’t awkward; it wasn’t anything that was a burden. We just came up with the idea for the person who we wanted to shoot and then took a couple photos.”
2022 may be winding down, but these shots will live forever:
henare
Nothing like hearing about something *after* it is relevant 🙁
Huron132
I agree!